5 Simple Ways To Boost Your Team’s Athletic Performance
One of the clear objectives for any coach or athletic trainer is to get the most out of their athletes. From motivation and training techniques to game preparation and diet, you want to do everything in your power to ensure your players reach their peak athletic performance come game time.
Here are five simple ways to gain a competitive edge and boost your team’s athletic performance:
1. Train for a marathon, not a sprint
Marathon runners don’t just start out running 26.2 miles at the beginning of their training; they build up to it — five miles the first week, ten miles the next week, then fifteen and so on, building their stamina and endurance for the full 26.2 miles.
When it comes to team sports, a season is a marathon, not a sprint. As cliché as it may be, it is true. It’s important to build up the stamina and endurance of your athletes in order to get the most out of their athletic performance throughout the season. Begin training with skill drills and small individual workouts, before moving to game situation drills and partial scrimmages, working up to a full scrimmage.
2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
How do you give your players an easy, quick boost to their performance? Keep them hydrated.
Proper hydration is just as integral to a player’s performance as muscle memory and natural skill. When your players are even slightly dehydrated, they are not at their peak athletic ability. Make water breaks mandatory during all training sessions and get your athletes in the habit of drinking water before and during games.
3. Proper nutrition starts the day before game day
Let’s be honest, it’s a challenge to keep your players on a good nutrition regiment — particularly when you’re on the road traveling to an away game. Fast food restaurants and buses full of hungry athletes were made for each other. But the short-term ease of burgers and fries doesn’t compare to the athletic benefits of proper pre-game nutrition.
The key to pre-game meals is not the meal itself, but how food is consumed throughout the course of the day leading up to the contest. The most important thing for athletes is to sustain energy, and that’s done through balanced nutrition and maintaining blood-glucose levels during the course of the day.
Avoid the myth of carbo-loading. Eating pure carbohydrates only slows your players down and makes them fatigued quicker. Lower the amount of pasta they eat and add some proteins, such as grilled meat or fish, replacing calories and helping to sustain energy levels longer. Vegetables like broccoli or avocado give your players the vitamins and nutrients their bodies need to reach their physical peak.
4. Keep their minds off equipment…
Another simple way to help your players reach their athletic peak is with sports equipment that fits properly. Not only does ill-fitting gear open your players up to easily avoided injuries, but it may become a major distraction on the field, court or ice.
With the right athletic equipment and a personalized fit, your players stay focused on the task at hand, not their equipment.
5. …And on preparing for the game
Every player is different. Some respond to motivational speeches or a stern disciplinarian, while others may need to be handled with kid gloves. Athletes need to prepare for action in the way that suits them best in order to get their best athletic performance; but every team still has a collective culture that needs to be motivated in a certain way.
It’s important for you to hone in on your team’s preferences and connect with your players to get the best out of them.
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